Too Gooders

Call in Robert Langdon!

Gotta love the story about the recent vandalism at a Fraternite Notre Dame retreat. Read full background and incident accounts here and here.

First off, residents opposed the religious order's plans for their 65 acre site, so it could be argued the sect is a victim of backlash from the decision to allow them to develop the property. Boy, do I know how the neighbors feel!

McHenry County Board member Barbara Wheeler said Tuesday that she believed that the vandalism might be the work of malicious adults whose religious beliefs clash with those of the order.

Sorry, Barbara, I don't believe it has anything to do with religion. Perhaps they are disliked for their land use plan? In that case, the order is not alone in culpability. It goes to the zoning and city/county boards that approve such use. The only dissentersrs in the decision were those county board members who lived nearby.

It certainly could be a few teens causing destruction. Yet you must admit; when some school busses were vandalized in December, police collared suspects within two days. Where are our suspects now?

The charges could range from a felony hate crime to a misdemeanor charge of property damage, McHenry County Assistant State's Attorney Thomas Carroll said. A conspiracy charge could be a possibility, Carroll said, if multiple people were involved.

Conspiracy theory? Hello, Dan Brown?

Secondly, the Catholic Church, whom the Fraternite claims to be affiliated with, disavowed this bunch long ago. Amy Wellborn's take here...

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with splintering off, just that tensions continue to exist internally and externally. Was there more to the graffiti than meets the eye??

What of the sect's refusal of help from the concerned public? Were they really awaiting an insurance adjustment? Had someone called Statues-R-Us to see what solvents could be used on fiberglass? Or were they just being, well, French?

"Even with the best intentions in the world, they [should have been] respectful of private property," the Rev. Philippe Marie said. "This is the United States, not Russia or something."

Um, have you read the fine print of the Patriot Act lately?

Finally, I'm no corrosive chemical genius myself, but paint remover on a colored statue? What were these people thinking? Good intentions? Or a vigilante posse of make-worsers?

Stay tuned for another episode of 'Goo-Gone Gone Wild!'